Electric metronome.



No."734;032. PATENTBD JULY 21, 1903. E. K. ADAMS.v

ELECTRIC METRONOME.

APPLICATION P ILED JULY 30. 1902.

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APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1902.

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No. 734,032. PATENTED' JULY 21, 1903. E. K. ADAMS. ELECTRIC METRONOME.

APPLIUAIION FILED JULY 30, 1902.

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PATENTED JULY 21, 1903.

E. K. ADAMS. ELECTRIC METRONOME.

APPLIOATIOR FILED JULY 30, 1902. no IODEL. 4 sums-sum 4.

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No. 734,032. g

UNITED STATES Patented July 21, 1903.

ERNEST K. ADAMS,-OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC METRONOME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,032, dated July 21,1903.

7 Application filed July 30, 1902. Serial No. 117 727. (No modelJ 1'0 towhom it may concern:

Beitknown thatLERNEsT K. ADAMS, acitizen of the United States,residingat NewYork, county and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Electric Metronomes, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying andforming part of the same.

In the study of music the metronome has come to be an important elementnot only in determining the tempo that a certain composition shall beplayed at, but in aiding the student in technical exercises to maintaina precision of rhythm in any tempo from a largo to a presto. There is,however, a disadvantage in the present marketable types, that consistsin the necessity of stopping frequently and often in the middle of adifficult passage to wind up the barrel-spring of the device. In thepresent subject a small electric motor has been added to the customarypercussion mechanism of a metronome in such a Way that when the barrelhas made but one revolution the motor is automatically started and madeto noiselessly wind up the mainsprin g. This has a twofold advantage thefirst being that the musician is provided with a metronome that willcontinue to run without attention as long as the battery lasts, which ifseveral'cells of dry battery are employed will be in the neighborhood ofa year, and, second, that by reason of the barrel being allowed but onerevolution before the mainspring is recoiled the force for operat ingthe pendulum willbe more constant than otherwise and the beat of thependulum not marked by any perceptible variation. In the design of theinstrument the features of simplicity and cheapness of manufacture havebeen the cardinal ones.

By reference to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevationsof the device; Fig. 3, a plan of the same with the upper portion of thecase removed; Figs. 4, 5, and 6,details of the electric motor; Fig. 7, asection of the controlling-switch; Fig. 8, a diagram of the requiredwiring; Fig. 9, a detail view of the contact mechanism, and Fig. 10 asimilar view of the same during the winding operation.

The case of the metronome consists, first, of

15, to rest in.

a base 1, having three turned feet 2, 3, and 4 glued therein. The baseis further perforated with three holes 5, 6, and 7. Fitting upon thebase 1 is the body of the instrument, which is made up of two sides 8and 9, back 10, front pieces 11 and 12, cap 13, horizontal portion 14,together with a cover formed of three pieces 15, 16, and 17. Glued intothe corners of the case are four blocks 18 to 21, inclusive. There isalso a fifth block 22 glued tothe back 10, which,together with the frontportions 19 and 21, forms a'place for one of three screws 23, passingthrough the feet 2, 3, and 4, to screw into. Let into the apex of thecase is a piece 24, over which a brass plate 25 is fastened by twoscrews 26 and 27. The plate 25 is provided with a tongue 28, which islet into the under side of the cap 13. A small depression 29 is drilledin the tongue 28 for a button 30, incorporated in the cover The button30 is formed upon the top of a rod 31, having a pin 32 therein, I

which is normally held by a compressionspring 34 against the under sideof a plate 33, screwed to the top of the cover 15.- This cover is heldat the bottom by two dowels 35 and 36. A paper pendulum-scale 37,covered by a strip of transparent celluloid 38, is secured in a groovecut in the front plate 11.

Fastened to the base 1 by four screws 39 to 42, inclusive, is a castframe 43, upon which the customary percussion elements of the metronomeare mounted. These parts consist of a pendulum 44, bob 45, slidingcounterpoise 46, mounting 47, fastening-screws 48, spindle 49,escapement cam device 50, journal-bearing 51, frame-plates 52 and 53,screws 54, barrel-arbor or spring-shaft 55, springbarrel 56, barrel-gear57, pinion 58, spindle 59, escapement-wheel 60, bell-ringing wheels 61to 64, inclusive, collars 65, fastening-nut 66, slide 67, rod 68, bell69, hammermember 70, spring 71, and adjustmentscrew 72. Pinned to thebarrel-arbor 55 is a gear 73, which is driven by a pinion 74,mountedupon a spindle 75, journaled between the frameplates 52 and 53.The ratio of the pinion 74 to the gear 73 is one to five. Also mountedupon the spindle 75 is a worm-gear 76, having fifty teeth. In mesh withthis worm-gear 76 is a worm 77, which is pinned to the shaft 78 of asmall electric motor. The total reducthe armature-shaft 78 being bothjournaled.

in a bridge-piece 79, secured by two screws 80 and 81, together withseveral dowels, to

two field-magnet poles 82 and 83, respectively, and pivoted in ahard-steel button let into a yoke 84, the end of the shaft 78 beingpointed. Fastened to the shaft 78 by a setscrew isa tripolar armature85, having three coils 86, 87, and 88 wound thereon. The coils 86, 87,and 88 are connected together in series, the junctions beingelectrically joined by the screws 89, 90, and 91 to three segments 92,93, and 94, respectively, of a commutator. These segments 92, 93, and 94are respectively held by three screws 95, 96, and 97, together withseveral dowels, to a fiber cylinder 98, driven upon the armature-spindle78. The pole-pieces 82 and 83, together with two field-cores, arefastened to the yoke 84 by two machine-screws. Wound about these coresare two field-magnets 99 and 100, which are placed in series with thearmature-coils 86, 87, and 88. The yoke 84 is rigidly held to the base 1by two wood-screws 101, the clearances in the aforesaid yoke around thescrews being sufficient to allow of a correct adjustment of the worm 77to its gear 76. A fiber-brush rocker 102 is adjustably secured to theyoke 84 in any desired plane of commu tation by two screws 103 and 104.Mounted by two screws 105 and 106 upon two projections 107 and 108 fromthe rocker 102 are two commutator-brushes 109 and 110, respectively. Thefriction of these brushes is capable of convenient regulation by twofurther screws 111 and 112. On account of the vertical arrangement ofthe armature-spindle 78 and its cone pivot the motor will run withoutnoise at a high speed with several cells of dry battery, the timerequired to wind the barrel 56 of the metronome being several seconds.The automatic switch for controlling the motor at each rotation of thebarrel 56 consists of an insulating fiber disk 113, brass bushing 114,platinum contact 115, fastening-pins 116, semicircular spring 117 and118, arbor-disk 119, barrel-screw 120, diskscrew 121, contact or lever122, journalingsleeve 123, fiber post 124, washer 125, nuts 1.26 and127, screw 128, retractil'e spring 129, post 130, insulating-bushing131, and sleeve 132. An auxiliary device is provided for shunting themain switch when it is desired to run the motor at intervals other thanthose controlled by the aforesaid main switch. This arrangement consistsof a post 133, spring 134, ebonite pushbutton 135, securing-pin 136, andmetal sleeve 137. y

The wiring of the metronome, shown in Fig. 8, consists, primarily, of abattery-boX 138, in which are placed several cells of dry battery, aflexible twin cord 139 passing through the boX-cover140 and joining themwith two terminals 141 and 142, screwed to the base 1. The motor-circuitis made up from the post 141 of awire 143, field 99, brush 109,commutator of motor, armature-coils of the same, brush 110, field-magnet100, frame portions 144 and 145, platinum contact 115, lever 122, andconductors 146 and 147 back to the other post 142. The auxiliary shuntfor completing the motor-circuit consists of the frame portion 148, post133, spring 134, and wire 149.

To follow the automatic Winding function of the metronome, let it beconsidered that the pendulum 44 is beating and the barrel 56 in runningdown is revolving the switch-disk I 113 through the medium of theprojecting screw 120 and spring 117. When this has continued for a time,the contact 115 will pass under the lever 122, and a current will thenproceed over the motor-circuit, made up of the members 141, 143, 99,109,110, 100, 144, 145, 115, 122, 146, 147, and 142. The motor is thusspeeded and winds the spring 150 in the barrel 56. The other screw 121now revolves and when it has made nearly a full turn comes against itsspring 118, thus pushing the contact 115 from under the lever 122 andbreaking the motor-circuit until the same cycle of operations is againperformed. The projection on the contact 115 (shown in Fig. 2) is forpreventing the same from being moved away from the lever 122 before thedisk-screw 121 arrives at its spring 118 simply by the rotation of thebarrel-arbor 55.

It will be readily understood that my invention is capable of numerousembodiments other than the particular form herein set forth, andtherefore I do not consider myself limited thereto; but

What I claim is-- 1. In a metronome, the combination with thespring-shaft, an insulating-disk, a contact supported on said disk, asecond contact bearing constantly on said disk, and an electric motorarranged to rotate said shaft, electrically connected with saidcontacts, of means for rotating said disk intermittently atpredetermined intervals to bring the contacts together, as set forth.

2. In a metronome, the combination with the spring-shaft, aninsulating-disk, a contact supported on said disk, a second contactbearing constantly on said disk, and an electric motor arranged torotate said shaft, electrically connected with said contacts,of meansfor rotating said disk intermittently at predetermined intervals tobring the contacts together, and means to separate the contacts, as setforth.

3. In a metronome, the combination with shaft, having means to engagethe insulatingdisk to rotate the same and separate the contacts, as setforth.

5. In a metronome, the combination with the spring-barrel, thespring-shaft, an insulating-disk movably mounted on the springshaft andhaving a device to be engaged by the spring-barrel, a contact supportedon the insulating-disk, a second contact bearing on the insulating-disk,and an electric motorarranged to rotate the spring-shaft, electricallyconnected with the contacts, of a second disk rigidly mounted on thespring-shaft, and having means to engage the insulating-disk to rotatethe same and separate the contacts, as

set forth.

ERNEST K. ADAMS. Witnesses:

DRURY W. COOPER, JOHN G. KERR.

